Bernard Bresslaw

Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the Carry On film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, performed recordings and wrote a series of poetry.

Early life Bernard Bresslaw was born the youngest of three boys into a Jewish family in Stepney, London, on 25 February 1934. His father was a tailor's cutter. He attended the Coopers' Company's School in Tredegar Square, Bow, London, and became interested in acting after visits to the Hackney Empire. At the start of World War 2, Bresslaw and his older brothers, Arnold Sidney and Stanley, were evacuated to Swindon, where they lived with railway worker Wallace Findlay and his family.

London County Council awarded him a scholarship to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Emile Littler Award as the most promising actor.

Career After Educating Archie on radio and The Army Game on television, more television, film and Shakespearean theatre roles followed. His first Carry On film was Carry On Cowboy in 1965.

Bresslaw's catchphrase, in his strong Cockney accent, was "I only arsked" (sic), first used in The Army Game, and later revived in Carry On Camping (1969).

At 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he was the tallest of the Carry On cast, head and shoulders over fellow Carry On regular Barbara Windsor, who was . Because of his height, he was briefly considered for the part of the Creature in Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein (1957), which ultimately went instead to Christopher Lee. Bresslaw later made a comedy version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Hammer titled The Ugly Duckling (1959). He made great efforts to prepare for roles, for example learning Fanagalo phrases for Carry On Up the Jungle (1970).

Bresslaw played Varga, the lead villain in the 1967 Doctor Who story The Ice Warriors. He played the genie on the Sooty Show and voiced Gorilla in Yorkshire TV's animated series The Giddy Game Show (1985–1987).

Other works

UK chart singles "Mad Passionate Love/You Need Feet" (1958) (UK No. 6) "The Army Game/What Do We Do in the Army?" (1958) Michael Medwin, Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass & Leslie Fyson (UK No. 5) "Charlie Brown/The Teenager's Lament" (1959) "Ivy Will Cling/I Found a Hole" (1959)

Stage actor Bresslaw performed with The English Stage Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Young Vic and the Chichester Festival Theatre. One of his last stage performances was as Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park (1990).

Bresslaw's other roles included playing Mephistopheles, alongside James Warwick in the title role, in an Oxford Stage Company regional touring production of Doctor Faustus in 1987, and the genie in the lamp in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, in the 1990s.

Song Bresslaw's song "You Need Feet" (a parody of "You Need Hands" by Max Bygraves) was used in the Rutles' TV special, accompanying the Yoko Ono film parody "A Thousand Feet of Film". This was cut from the syndicated version and the original DVD release, but was restored (along with other cut footage) in later DVD releases.

BT adverts Bresslaw, together with Miriam Margolyes, appeared with English comedienne Maureen Lipman in a series of British Telecom advertisements in the late 1980s. Bresslaw and Margolyes played Gerald and Dolly, a nervous couple who drop in unannounced on Lipman's character Beatrice "Beattie" Bellman and her husband Harry.

Poetry Bresslaw was the author of a privately published volume of poetry, Ode to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Personal life Bresslaw was married to the dancer Betty Wright from 1959 until his death in 1993. They had three sons.

Bresslaw was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a British entertainment fraternity and in 1988 he was elected "King Rat" of the order.

Death Bresslaw died of a sudden heart attack on 11 June 1993. His body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, north London, where his ashes were buried on 17 June 1993.

Filmography Films

The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954) as Garth (uncredited) The Glass Cage (1955) as Ivan the Terrible, Cossack Dancer (uncredited) Satellite in the Sky (1956) as Technician (uncredited) Up in the World (1956) as Williams (uncredited) High Tide at Noon (1957) as Tom Robey (uncredited) Blood of the Vampire (1958) as Tall Sneak Thief I Only Arsked! (1958) as Popeye Popplewell Too Many Crooks (1959) as Snowdrop The Ugly Duckling (1959) as Henry Jekyll It's All Happening (1962) as Parsons Carry On Cowboy (1965) as Little Heap Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) as Policeman Carry On Screaming! (1966) as Sockett Follow That Camel (1967) as Sheikh Abdul Abulbul Carry On Doctor (1967) as Ken Biddle Carry On Up the Khyber (1968) as Bungdit Din Carry On Camping (1969) as Bernie Lugg Moon Zero Two (1969) as Harry Spring and Port Wine (1970) as Lorry Driver Carry On Up the Jungle (1970) as Upsidasi Carry On Loving (1970) as Gripper Burke Up Pompeii (1971) as Gorgo The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) as Mr Violet (segment "Avarice") Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) as Bernie Hulke Blinker's Spy-Spotter (1972) as South Carry On Matron (1972) as Ernie Bragg Carry On Abroad (1972) as Brother Bernard Carry On Girls (1973) as Peter Potter Carry On Dick (1974) as Sir Roger Daley Vampira (1974) as Pottinger One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) as Fan Choy Carry On Behind (1975) as Arthur Upmore In the Movies it Doesn't Hurt (1975) as several Joseph Andrews (1977) as Parson Trulliber (uncredited) Jabberwocky (1977) as The Landlord The Fifth Musketeer (1979) as Bernard Hawk the Slayer (1980) as Gort Krull (1983) as Rell the Cyclops Asterix and the Big Fight (1989) as Obelix (English version, voice) Leon the Pig Farmer (1992) as Rabbi Hartmann Bernard Bresslaw: A Story About Bernard Bresslaw (2009)

Television series Nom-de-Plume: "The Man from the Sea" (1956) as Dominic The Adventures of Robin Hood The Black Patch as Sir Dunstan's Captain The Army Game (1957–1958) 7 episodes as Pvt. 'Popeye' Popplewell Our House (1961–1962) 22 episodes as William Singer Carry On Christmas Specials and Carry On Laughing Danger Man: The Outcast, as Leo (1964) Emergency - Ward 10 (1966) Series 2, Episode 3 as Alf Beaumont Doctor Who serial The Ice Warriors (1967) as Varga, an Ice Warrior Doctor in the House (13 September 1969) Series 1, Episode 10 (The Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Casino) as Malcolm The Goodies Series 2 (1 October 1971) episode Scotland as the zookeeper. Men of Affairs (1974) 1 episode as Hall Porter Sykes (7 November 1974) Series 3 Episode 4 (The Band) as Johnny Brunswick Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979–1980) 2 episodes as Smythe Terry and June (16 November 1982) Series 5 Episode 5 (Playing pool) as Morris Mann's Best Friends (1984) 6 episodes as Duncan The Giddy Game Show (1985–1987) 52 episodes as 'Gorilla' (voice only) T-Bag (1987) Series 3 (in one episode) as Omar The Book Tower (1987–1988) as presenter The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993) Series 2, Episode 20 as Very Big Man